Mossbourne Community Academy
The ethos of the Academy is to contribute to community learning as well as offering excellent facilities to secondary school students. As a result, the design distributes popular community facilities throughout the scheme rather than concentrating them in one particular area. This approach intentionally erodes the boundaries of the academic and the creative / recreational aspects of learning. The intention is to encourage the community to participate in the activities of the school and in so doing, establish a model for lifetime learning.
In response to the site conditions, the three storey building is conceived as a broad ‘V’ with its back to the railway tracks forming a protective layer to the east and west boundaries that present a constant source of noise, vibrations and a safety hazard from the railway, and sheltering the accommodation from this hostile environment. Teaching and working spaces are concentrated on the inner face of the building, where a new courtyard enclosed by the ‘V’ creates a central focus and identity to the new Academy, while creating a continuous sense of space across Downs Park Road to the park beyond.
Public Realm:
The Academy is fully accessible to members of the community with facilities distributed throughout the scheme to erode boundaries between academic and creative or aspirational aspects of learning. A new courtyard links the school to the existing green space of Hackney Downs to create a seamless outdoor play, sport and recreation space.
Legibility:
The simplicity of the diagram represents an instantly legible response to the site conditions. A broad ‘V’ in plan, with its armour-like wall protecting the building from the noise of the railway lines is contrasted with the light-weight timber and glazed teaching spaces looking out over the courtyard and Hackney Downs beyond.
City & Context:
The triangular site for the Academy, previously the location of the derelict Hackney Downs School, is dominated on two sides by railway tracks and as a result is subject to a high degree of noise and vibrations. On the third side, to the north, the site looks out over Hackney Downs, one of the few green spaces in the borough.
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